This guide should help those frustrated with these acronyms, abbreviations and slang terms decipher what is being said by social Internet users.
TTYL: Talk To You Later.
Cya: See ya; as in, I will see you later
DL: Download.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Orly: Oh Really?
Yarly: Yes, Really.
MMO/MMORPG: Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
WOW: World Of Warcraft
F2P: Free To Play. (Also indicates you should never ever play this game.)
OP: Original Post/Poster
OC: Original Content. (Most likely a myth)
LOL: Laugh Out Loud. (no one has actually laughed out loud prior to typing this sunce the early 90s)
ROFL: Rolling On Floor Laughing
LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off.
ALL CAPS: Indicates yelling or the presence of Billy Mays.
Lolcats: Cats in cute and or funny pictures with captions written in a particular kind of netspeak known as lolspeak. The most common example of lolspeak is “I can haz cheeseburger?” which is a request for a cheeseburger.
FML: F— My Life. Refers primarily to an extremely popular site featuring short stories outlining the everyday disasters of readers.
1337: pronounced “leet” a shortened form of the word elite. It refers to internet or computer programming skills of the highest sort. 1337sp34k or leetspeak is the use of numbers to type words.
Plox/plz: please
Pwn: originally a typo of the word own. It became so common it has replaced own. It means to dominate, beat, prevail over, etc. Pwnage is a common form.
Thread: a forum topic and all responses.
Godwin’s Law: “As a thread grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” When this happens it is considered the end of a thread and proof that all parties involved are no longer or never were reasonable.
Lurk/Lurker: Lurking is the act of reading a forum or chat without posting anything. This is usually approved of and disapproved of in fairly equal amounts as a lurker does not contribute anything but is not detracting from the discussion.
Spam: extremely repetitive posting/E-mailing/commenting usually perpetrated by someone who stands to make a profit. Spam is the most universally detested offense on the internet. If you spam or are believed to be a spammer you will be banned with extreme prejudice.
Ban: When the moderator of a chat/forum/web service/etc prevents an individual from posting, usually as punishment. There are numerous kinds of bans. A permaban is intended to be permanent and will last until a moderator removes it. An ip ban blocks a particular ip address so that no matter what a user at that address does they cannot post on that site; this often causes irl drama when multiple family members use the same computer. An Account Ban blocks a user based not on ip but by their account, the most easily circumvented variety of ban.
Banhammer: when an individual is capable of banning an individual they are said to wield the banhammer.
Mod: Moderator, usually wields the mighty banhammer.
Shoop/Shop: to Photoshop or digitally edit a picture.
Teh: Intentional misspelling of “the.” Lolspeak.
Moar: Intentional misspelling of “more” lolspeak
Liek: Intentional misspelling of “like” only used to indicate approval or affection not similarity. lolspeak
N00b/noob: Someone who has not learned the proper social intricacies, function of, or developed sufficient skill and experience with the use of something. Usually a video game but anything with a chat or forum will have n00bs. Unlike a “newb” who is simply new to something a n00b can remain a n00b indefinatly. N00b is an insult and indicates stupidity, lack of skill, lack of experience, ignorance, social ineptitude, and often naïveté.
Troll: Though it originally had a different meaning it now refers to someone who makes intentionally inflammatory remarks in order to get a rise out of people. A troll argues for sport and almost always cares little or nothing about the substance of the subject they are discussing. Someone who responds to a troll is referred to as troll-bait; troll-bait is more disliked than trolls themselves. Do not feed the trolls, your hatred only makes them stronger.
Google: Beneficent dictator of the internet and final arbiter of all knowledge. When used as a verb it means to search for a term using Google.
AFK: Away From Keyboard.
FTW: For The Win.
IM: Instant Message.
G2G: Got To Go; I have to leave.
BRB: (I will) Be Right Back.
Meme: Sort of hard to explain; essentially it is an internet “in joke.”
Imho/imo: In My Humble Opinion.
